The Fall
by Noteleks
Summary: It starts in the autumn- the time of harvesting crops nurtured through the spring and summer, of turning inward for comfort as the chill of winter looms on the horizon, and leaves changing colors as nourishment from the sun withers to just enough to support life... Based off a Nuzlocke.


No copyright infringement intended.

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I have been sitting here for an hour, pondering where to begin this story. When was it, exactly, that the ball started rolling, creating the chain of events that led to all this?

Perhaps it started with me.

My birth meant little, but my mistakes… My mistakes have made all the difference. I traveled in my youth as a Pokémon trainer just like many children did in the past and still do today. There were no gyms in Kanto back then- just prominent, powerful trainers who roamed the mostly untamed land in search of opponents and friends. Of course, I had Pokémon with me, but I had my three best friends as well. No matter what, we were an inseparable group in those days, and a fearsome one as well. Trainers from every corner of Kanto would come to challenge us and it has always been thought that we are what stemmed the Elite Four challenge present today. After awhile, I drifted away from that life, settling down with a wife and a son… And suddenly, my son was grown and married and my claimed by a vicious disease. I realized then that I was near forty and reaching the end of my youth. Consumed by loss and a feeling of idleness, my craving for danger and adventure returned to me.

So we teamed up once more to travel around, ignoring whatever past duties and responsibilities we had at home to battle and train together once more to claim some part of ourselves we felt lost. Our wanderlust took us to the Sevii Islands while it was still a part of Kanto, but actively seeking its independence. No one predicted that it would come to the bloody civil war that broke out. And least of all, I never suspected that I would be at the heart of it or that my own son and his wife would be fighting in this war… And in the end, I would lose both of them, my friends, my life's work, and be left an empty shell of the man I once was.

As the warfare started, we sought to mingle with the Seviians. It wasn't hard at first, but years into the matter, people started to question our trustworthiness and that was the point at which we had to run and hide, hopefully somewhere no one else could find us. We hopped from island to island along the archipelago until we reached Quest Island and stole a boat, hoping to sail back to Kanto. But we got caught in a terrible storm and we were driven hard and fast southeast. By then, we were hopelessly lost. Eventually, the boat ran out of fuel and we were at the mercy of the sea. By some miracle, we wrecked on a small spot of land we later determined to be Guyana, South America. It was supposed to be an area unpopulated by the pure energy beings we identify as Pokémon, but as soon as we got there, it was very clear that the fact no longer held true. I ventured into the forest as my friends set up some type of shelter and perhaps a signal for the Kanto forces to find us. It wasn't long before a small, feline Pokémon appeared before us. It seemed to recognize our plight and desperation and it also seemed to recognize what place we all had in common with homely ties: Cinnabar Island. It teleported us there and stayed with us and we named the pink Pokémon Mew for the sounds it made.

It was sweet, innocent, and refused to harm any being. Mew was a charming beast and making fast friends with it was easy. My friends, however, were not interested in making it a lovable pet- their desires and their ambitions laid elsewhere and they had the combined genius to make their wish a reality. We were famous trainers, but only for as long as people cared to remember our names. What they planned could make us famous forever. I fought their conviction to the plan and tried to convince them otherwise. Mew as a free spirit and a pure being- it was not something to be tested and poked at in the name of science. It was first time we had ever fought so furiously. Somehow, in this contest of wills and morals, the Mew gave birth or created an egg- a baby Mew.

I've asked many times why it did that… I think it was torn between us. We were the first humans it came in contact with and I think it imprinted on us, in a way. I think it wanted to help them… And it trusted them. So it gave the unborn Mew to my three colleagues to help them with their research.

That was the end and the beginning. It set everything in motion.

I left them then, moving somewhere else to get away. I was so sickened by what they would be doing to that harmless creature that I left my own research about Pokemon there. It held my life's dream, but I wasn't ready to resume it just yet. It was a year later that my daughter in-law came home from the war, pregnant with my grandchild. I stayed with her all.

My son, however, was still fighting. The civil war was going on for six years now and would go on for another two years until Kanto would eventually surrender. I left my friends for the most part at this point in time to help her and take care of my grandchildren. When I returned to my friends, they were in hysterics and the infant Mew had become a creature unlike any other- Mewtwo… The product of their DNA splicing to create an intelligent humanoid Pokemon. But they forgot to teach it how to be kind. I tried to calm the beast- to undo what had been done… It was of little use.

Our friend the Mew returned at this critical moment, furious. The two, mother and child fought briefly- Mew was protecting me. Then it teleported us away, one by one, from the destruction and madness. What happened to my friends I never knew, but I trust that they are well. I was taken back to Guyana with the Mew where it gave me something very precious to it to take care of.

Mewtwo destroyed the mansion and fled into the wild, never heard from again. I returned haphazardly to my home and life. It wasn't easy. I had realized then my damning mistake. The demons born when a good man does nothing.

It is around this point that my actions are no longer relevant because this story really isn't about me- it's about the trials of a young trainer who inherited a world that my entire generation, in all its wisdom, had managed to screw up almost beyond repair.

Leaf was over a year old then and her childhood friend Noah just a few months older than her. Leaf and her mother lived in Viridian City and Noah, his parents, and little brother lived in Pallet Town with Gary and Daisy, two children orphaned by the horrible civil war, like many others. The toll was so great that many chose to just let it leave their minds. The war is very rarely mentioned these days. Luckily for these two children, unlike most others, Leaf's mom and Noah's family were able to take care of the two for their pitifully dysfunctional grandfather, Professor Samuel Oak. Leaf's mother was especially involved, being a capable woman and strong mother. Her husband, Leaf's father, was a mystery to everyone. He disappeared when Leaf turned four. As far as most of us knew, he never returned.

Pallet was a quiet and quaint town that nurtured the wounded souls who went there for peace and comfort. It was this environment that Leaf was raised in and ultimately returned to… And who could blame her after all that she went through? Her journey was longer and tougher than most other trainers, and most people only know half of it. She didn't just go on one Pokémon journey. She didn't forage into the wild once, but twice. Twice, after she failed the first time in a very public and humiliating battle with Lt. Surge. A few commended her bravery; most thought her weak and shameful. She was eleven-years-old at the time- just a young girl. The world saw fit to break her: her innocence, her heart, and even her future. The Pokémon League, the governing force on all trainers, took away her license and locked all her Pokémon away in the PC where she could never access them until the League decided how best to handle the loyal and trained Pokémon.

For a few years, she seemed content to heal, to recover, and to stay in the safety of Viridian and Pallet Town where the world couldn't find and hurt her. But that didn't last forever. They stole her Pokemon and she was going to get them back- one way or the other.

It starts in the autumn- the time of harvesting crops nurtured through the spring and summer, of turning inward for comfort as the chill of winter looms on the horizon, and leaves changing colors as nourishment from the sun withers to just enough to support the core of life. So, too, was it time that the world let loose the lives it had reared to face the harsh times and cold winds.

Noteleks presents, with Beta DarkAngelTorchic, based off a Fire Red Nuzlocke,

The Fall


End file.
